Western Outdoor Times - Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!

There's no doubt about it: These times are stressful in so many ways, including financially, politically, and emotionally - to name only three. This is one of the reasons we are featuring fishing this... Full story

Big Fish And Big Money Can Come On Crankbaits When water temperatures start to go down and lake levels begin to rise, crankbait time is here again. Fish start moving up and getting a lot more active,... Full story

Then the weather heats up and the fish quit chasing reaction baits, John Murray starts using a spoon, especially at Lake Pleasant. "Spoons will catch everything in the lake," says Murray, "including...  Website

A Tribute From Margie and John Anderson We've known Marc for a long time and have done several stories with him. He was the kind of guy who would tell you the straight dope all the time, no matter... Full story

The focus is on boating-centric inland lakes with distinction. There are 123,439 freshwater lakes – those water bodies generally larger than 20 acres – in the continental United States. Which... Full story

One of the best ways to catch summer bass on Lake Pleasant is with a Carolina rig. I remember back in the day when VanderKooi and his partner came to the scales with a 42-pound limit they caught on...  Website

The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) has introduced a new option that allows fishing and hunting license holders to have their licenses automatically renewed upon expiration. The feature is... Full story

Something Different This Month: Crappie Pros Rambo and Chamberlin Tell Us What Not to Do! Most anglers are familiar with bass pros, but Arizona anglers might not be aware that there are a lot of...  Website

Early in February it can seem like the fish are on strike," says local resident and ournament angler Debbie Blanchard, "but before long the big smallmouth start to move in and you can catch a lot of... Full story

We save most of our desert drives for winter because although our Jeep would make it through snow and mud, many northern Arizona off-highway trails are closed in winter, and we also don't like to... Full story

Prespawn can be a difficult time for bass fishermen. Marty Lawrence’s advice on prespawn fishing is “don’t overthink it”. That being said, the man probably has 14 rods on the deck by the end...  Website

Christmas Gifts For Outdoorsy Types Need some stocking stuffer and gift ideas for your outdoorsy family and friends? Look no further – here are a bunch of great ones at all different price ranges.... Full story

John and I have known fishing legend Fred Ward for many years, but we actually met him in Florida. At that time I was writing for a tiny publication (now defunct) called Arizona Fishing News. My day... Full story

Contest garnered 129 entries and paid out $30,000 in prizes. Recycling old fishing line and soft baits into new products is labor-intensive, inefficient and simply, for many anglers, not easy to do.... Full story

Lake Powell Report (6/23/21) Lake Powell is dropping. Inflowing water today is 10,000 Acre Feet less than outflow. The parched Southwest really needs Monsoon rain to fall this summer. Be careful when... Full story

Daniel Elias found out about the Free Rig in early 2019 from Japanese bass fishermen on Instagram, in posts that weren't even in English. The rig is fairly simple – you use a cylindrical drop shot w... Full story

[At press time] the falling lake level is slowing down slightly, but there is still more water going out than coming in. The daily water temperature now varies between 62-68 F. This is the spawning tr...

Concert and Fireworks Planned for July 3 – 4, 2021 LAKE HAVASU CITY, Arizona (June 24, 2021) – The megadrought in the Southwest has lead to epic water shortages, but there is one bright side.... Full story

This is where the birds and fish, burros and deer roam. According to vacation experts, the latest travel trend is the toe-dip trip: a shorter getaway to help rebuild confidence in traveling. "We may... Full story

The weather is still acting like a lion instead of a lamb. At press time, winds are still blowing this week. Check the weather report while planning a trip. There is usually a calm day or two each... Full story

Mark Kile was the guy to watch at any local tournament a few years back. We were lucky enough to go out with him several times at his home lake, Roosevelt, and he just flat knows how to catch them.... Full story

The legend is that an angler eating lunch on the lake accidently dropped a spoon overboard. As he watched the silver spoon drift downward, sun glinting off the handle and bowl, he saw a fish dart out... Full story

AZGFD’s Canyon Creek Hatchery will provide some trout for the department's Community Fishing Program waters this winter. The current drought conditions have caused reduced spring water flows at the... Full story

The year 2020 saw a lot of people venturing into the outdoors for the first time. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, this past year 6.2 million new shooters took up the sport.... Full story

Anglers are encouraged to participate in the Arizona HAWG Bass and Fat Cat challenges. These incentive-based, citizen-science conservation rewards programs are designed to encourage anglers to learn... Full story